Jean looked at the 14,000 Star Coins in her hand and decisively bought 10 Basic Spirit Cores, leaving the remaining 4,000 for later use.
Ye Yun handed the 10 Basic Spirit Cores to Jean and pointed at the spirit incubator next to them, which had just been moved over from Natasha's clinic the day before.
"That's the spirit incubator. Just place the cores inside and they'll hatch."
Jean nodded with a smile. "Thank you. We'll head back for now and come again later."
Ye Yun nodded and waved the two women goodbye with a smile.
After returning to Mondstadt—
Kaeya happened to be walking in after moving some items.
"Oh? Back so soon? Not buying a bit more?"
Lisa smiled. "Kaeya, we'll need your help—go and call Diluc, Amber, and Eula for us."
Hearing that, Kaeya raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Did you two get your hands on something interesting?"He immediately guessed they must've bought something good from Ye Yun, or else they wouldn't be gathering everyone.
Lisa said, "You'll know in a moment. Just go call them first."
Kaeya, now fully intrigued, replied, "Alright, I'll go."
A few minutes later—
Diluc and the others arrived at Jean's office.
Jean took out the 10 Basic Spirit Cores.
"These are Spirit Cores. They can be used to hatch Spirits."
Amber and Eula were instantly overjoyed.
Amber ran up excitedly. "Captain Jean! Are you serious? These can really hatch into Spirits?"
They had seen the little Flame Monkey and Bub Seed that belonged to Stelle and March 7th, and had absolutely loved them.
Now, the idea of having their own sprite filled them with glee.
Jean nodded. "Yes. Ye Yun introduced them to us. Everyone pick one—let's keep the rest stored for now."
Saying this, she placed the ten Spirit Cores on the table.
Everyone stepped up to choose one.
Diluc, Kaeya, Eula, Jean, and Lisa each casually picked one.
Amber, however, hesitated.
"Emmm... This one's red—I love red.But that blue one also looks so cool…"
She was torn, loving both equally.
Eventually, Amber chose the red one.
Once everyone had picked, Jean stored away the remaining four Spirit Cores.
With their chosen cores in hand, they returned to Ye Yun's shop and placed them into the incubator to hatch their Spirits.
Since hatching took time, everyone left the cores in the incubator and returned to Mondstadt, leaving Amber behind to keep watch.
At the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor Internet Café—
Zhongli sat at the front desk, sipping tea.
Tartaglia (Childe) walked in and glanced around before spotting Hu Tao.
Hu Tao was curled up with a laptop, watching a horror movie while munching on chips.
"Using a computer?" Zhongli, the cashier, asked flatly.
Tartaglia looked confused. "Using… a what?"
Zhongli noticed his bewilderment and rephrased, "Would you like to try out one of our games?"
Now Tartaglia understood. "Yes, yes, I want to play!"
Zhongli nodded calmly. "998 Mora for half an hour. Queue over there."
Tartaglia looked where Zhongli pointed—on a row of benches, a dozen or so people were waiting their turn.
A small smirk formed at the corner of Tartaglia's lips.
Queue? That concept doesn't apply to me.
He walked straight up to someone in the front of the line."I'll give you 100,000 Mora for your spot. Deal?"
The person instantly agreed—who could say no to free money falling from the sky?
Besides, the Wangsheng Net Café was a permanent fixture. He could just come back later.
In the end, Tartaglia spent 100,000 Mora to skip the line and take the front spot.
The others didn't object. He paid for the spot fair and square. As long as their own queue positions weren't affected, they didn't care.
Zhongli watched him silently, pondering whether he should still go through with handing over the Gnosis to the Tsaritsa.
Originally, he planned to trade the Gnosis to her.
Her plan, if successful, truly could save Teyvat.
But now, with Liyue no longer facing existential threats…
He figured that if worse came to worst, he could just call up Celestia and migrate to the Honkai world to terraform a deserted planet. Problem solved.
After thinking it over, Zhongli decided he would cancel the deal with the Tsaritsa soon.
Her plan was too uncertain—emigrating was much more reliable.
And if they were to emigrate, they'd need Celestia's help to make a new planet livable anyway.
So there was no point in offending them.
Soon, Tartaglia was on a computer and started gaming.
He was recommended a game called Meteor, Butterfly, Sword.
After going through the tutorial, he entered his first mission.
At first, he thought it would be as easy as the tutorial.
But that illusion was quickly shattered as the AI thrashed him with no mercy.
His eyes lit up with fighting spirit. "Interesting… Looks like I need to get serious."
Tartaglia sat up straight, now fully focused.
Aboard the Astral Express—
Dan Heng was in the library, trying to read a book—but no matter how he tried, he couldn't focus.
His eyes kept drifting to the window, his mind on Stelle and the others.
He finally closed the book and put it back on the shelf.
Can't focus at all.
He stepped out of the library—only to see Ye Yun relaxing with Klee and the other little ones, watching cartoons.
Ye Yun had set up a giant screen TV in the lounge.Watching from a comfy sofa was pure bliss.
He noticed Dan Heng's troubled face.
"What's wrong? You look like you've got the whole world on your shoulders."
Dan Heng replied coolly, "It's nothing."
Ye Yun chuckled. Dan Heng always tried to play it cool.
He said, "If you want to go, just go. Rios and I are still here—you don't need to worry.
Unresolved things will always weigh on you. Solve it, and it's not a problem anymore."
Dan Heng paused, thinking it over.
A moment later, without a word, he turned and left the shop.
But his actions said it all.
"Brother Ye Yun~ Klee wants to go out and play~"
Klee looked up at Ye Yun with big, sparkling eyes.
His precious daughter wanted to go out? What to do?Of course he'd say yes!
Ye Yun smiled, patting her head.
"Alright, let's go. Brother Ye Yun will take you all out to play."
The three little ones jumped off the couch with joy, hurriedly putting on their shoes and lining up beside Ye Yun like good kids.
Ye Yun turned to Noelle at the counter.
"Noelle, I'll leave the shop to you. I'm taking the kids out."
Noelle nodded."Leave it to me."
Ye Yun nodded, then looked at Rios.
"Rios, you're in charge of security on the train. If you run into anything too strong, just get everyone out. Got it?"
Rios gave a firm nod.
With the store and the train in good hands, Ye Yun took the kids off the train and headed for Luofu.
***
Luofu, in front of the Sky-Faring Commission.
Stelle, March 7th, and Welt had already met Yukong and were now standing in front of the inn arranged by Tingyun, accompanied by the little fire monkey and the Bub Seed.
March 7th was still a bit upset. That Yukong's attitude was just too rude—weren't they here to help?
"Hmph! If I'd known it would be like this, I wouldn't have voted yes. I could've been in Penacony right now! I heard it's super fun there!"
The Bub Seed at March 7th's feet, sensing its master's anger, also began to chirp in protest.
"Bubu~ Bubu~"
Stelle shrugged.
"What can you do? It's the path you chose—gotta walk it even on your knees."
Then Stelle's tone changed, suddenly becoming mysterious.
"But hey, coming here isn't without benefits, hehe~"
March 7th looked curious.
"What benefits? I don't see any."
Stelle pointed to a wooden treasure chest nearby.
"There, look!"
March 7th's eyes lit up the moment she saw it.
Oh ho! A treasure chest! Treasure chest = Credits!
Seeing that March 7th got the idea, Stelle continued.
"Didn't Yukong say we could move around freely? Hehe~"
March 7th giggled.
"Let's go, let's go~"
The two girls waved goodbye to Welt and went off in search of treasure chests.
Welt looked around, then decided to wander a bit and gather some information.
Stelle and March 7th looted as they went—no chest was safe. Every one of them was cracked open.
Eventually, they arrived at the gates of the Xianzhou Alliance's "Evernight City."
Unbeknownst to them, people had been giving them strange looks the whole way.
Couldn't be helped—their sneaky, gleeful expressions were... well, a bit unsettling.
The two were constantly darting their eyes around, looking left and right like they were afraid to miss a single treasure chest.
Naturally, the locals steered clear of them.
"Stelle-sis! March 7th-sis!"
Stelle and March 7th turned around to see Klee running excitedly toward them.
Stelle was a little surprised.
"Klee?"
She crouched down and caught the little girl in her arms.
"What are you doing here, Klee?"
Klee grinned cheerfully.
"Brother Ye Yun brought me~ And Diona, Hook, and Dodoco also came!"
Just as Klee finished, Ye Yun appeared, holding Diona and Hook by the hand, with Dodoco trailing behind.
"Yo, Stelle, March. Didn't expect to run into you two here."
March 7th asked,
"Ye Yun, what are you doing here?"
Ye Yun patted Diona and Hook on the head.
"These three little ones wanted to go out and play, so I brought them. What about you two? How's it going?"
The question immediately ticked March 7th off again. She crossed her arms and huffed.
"Ugh, don't even mention it. We just met with the leader of the Sky-Faring Commission, and she was super cold. Didn't even let us help.
If General Jing Yuan hadn't stepped in, we might've been kicked out of Luofu altogether."
Ye Yun smirked.
"Luofu's in a bit of a crisis right now—strict rules for outsiders are kinda expected. Good luck, then. I'm taking the kids to play more. Are you two coming back for dinner tonight?"
Stelle definitely wanted to go back—she loved Yeyun's cooking, especially his spicy hotpot.
March 7th wanted to go too. Even though Tingyun had arranged a luxurious room for them, as the saying goes, "Gold nest, silver nest—not as good as your own doghouse."
"Of course we're coming back! Remember to save us some food, okay?"
Ye Yun nodded with a smile.
Then he said goodbye to Stelle and March 7th and led the kids toward Challenge Heaven—where all the fun was.
Stelle and March 7th, meanwhile, continued their treasure-hunting spree.
Half an hour later.
Yeyun brought the three little ones to Challenge Heaven. Just as they reached the plaza, a commotion broke out nearby.
"Out of the way! Don't block this young lady's path!"
Ye Yun looked toward the noise and saw a small girl with dragon horns and a ponytail sprinting toward them.
Despite her short legs, she was fast—so fast that the adults chasing behind couldn't catch up.
Ye Yun recognized her immediately.
Wasn't that the "Dragon Sovereign"? He still remembered pulling her in his previous life...
Good news: Five-star, Dragon Sovereign!
Bad news: Purple-haired Dragon Sovereign!
Coincidentally, the little girl—Bailu—was charging straight toward Ye Yun.
Bailu saw him in the way and waved frantically.
"Get out of the way! I can't stop!"
Dodoco quickly stepped in front of Yeyun.
Bailu couldn't brake in time and crashed right into Dodoco's fluffy belly.
Just as she was about to fall, Dodoco caught her.
Bailu let out a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from her brow.
"Whew~ That was close. This young lady nearly fell."
At that moment, the group chasing her caught up.
"Miss Bailu, please come back with us."
Bailu shook her head.
"No way! I finally escaped, I'm not going back! It's nothing but study, study, study—it's so boring!"
The lead adult sighed.
"Miss Bailu, sorry about this. Everyone, go!"
They all lunged at once. Bailu panicked and tried to run.
At that moment, a bomb dropped from above.
"Boom-boom bomb! You're not allowed to bully people!"
Klee stood atop Dodo-D's shoulders, pulling bomb after bomb from her backpack and hurling them at the group.
The group scattered in panic—what kind of little girl brings bombs out in public?! Where are her parents?!
If Alice heard their complaints, she'd probably say, "What's wrong with my Klee bringing bombs? That's nothing yet! Right, Stormterror?"
The group fled quickly. Seeing the cratered ground, Ye Yun promptly grabbed the four little ones and ran.
Gotta say, his Emanator-level speed really paid off—he dashed them straight into the quieter "Golden Alley."
Though Golden Alley was still a commercial street, its former glory had faded, with only a few shops open.
Bailu looked at Klee, who was busy packing up her little backpack.
"Thanks for helping me. What's your name?"
Klee looked up.
"Are you talking to Klee?"
Bailu nodded.
"Yes. So your name's Klee? Nice to meet you, I'm Bailu."
Klee asked,
"Hi, Sister Bailu. Why were those bad guys trying to catch you?"
Bailu thought for a moment.
"I ran away from home. They want to drag me back. It's just study and more study over there—it's sooo boring."
Klee nodded in understanding.
"Oh! Klee gets it. I hate being grounded too. When I'm grounded, I can't go out to play~"